¹The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? … ⁴One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple … ¹⁴Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.

There is a secret place (vs. 5) where we can go, no matter how much turmoil and conflict surround us, a sanctuary where fear is arrested at the door and cannot enter. In this place, our strength is recharged, our hearts are encouraged, and our spirits are lifted up into praise. David infuses this song of lament with high praise and worship; he knows the Lord will raise him above the repressive turmoil that surrounds him.

Some might ask how we can learn from the life experiences of a figure from ancient history, who faced life-and-death military conflicts three millennia ago? The NT warns us not to be arrogant and miss the value of the OT examples for us today:

Now these things happened to them [in the OT] as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Cor. 10:11–13)

Yes, we struggle with the same kind of temptations as those in the ancient world; human experiences may vary in the details, but human nature remains the same. This psalm of David presents us with a godly response to our struggles. Indeed, he prays for help (vss. 7-9), but his praise for God and his embrace of the promises of God rise above the cloud of fear.

Notice the priority of this godly man: “One thing I have asked ….” (vs. 4). That is expressed in three parts: 1) To dwell in the house of the Lord, 2) To behold the beauty of the Lord, 3) To meditate in His temple. The physical temple would not be built until David’s son Solomon’s time, so he is referring figuratively to being in the Lord’s presence. As Jesus taught the woman at the well, worshiping the Lord is not a matter of where but of how—“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). David understands this, and thus he desires the reality of God’s presence. For us, that means to worship as a daily experience, every day, not just on Sundays. It means picturing ourselves in a vision like Isaiah: “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple” (Isa. 6:1 NKJV).

This godly man wants to see the Lord’s beauty—this is the aching of his heart crying out from a broken world. His first and foremost prayer is not to remove his present dire conflict but that in the midst of it, he would not be deterred from his heart’s desire to fully experience the Lord’s presence. He is not simply asking for endurance, or even longsuffering. He wants joy—the kind of joy that flows from exposure to beauty. David knows there is no greater beauty than the Lord.

What does this mean in practical terms? David wants to meditate on the Lord, to plumb the depth of His greatness and majesty. He wants to see God’s hand in the rescue from his dilemma (as he prays later in the psalm). The physical rescue may be delayed, but his optimism about being in the Lord’s presence moves him to a higher sphere than the things of the earth that surround him. So he confidently says,

And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord. (Ps. 27:6)

In other words, no matter how hard his enemies press in on him, they cannot shake his experience and joy in the Lord’s presence. Someone has written: “You will never understand properly and respond appropriately to the ugly things in [life] unless you consider those things through the lens of the stunning beauty of God. Too much of our reaction is a reaction to fear. Only the fear of God will conquer the fear of anything else.” And only meditating on the Lord’s beauty will rise above the ugliness. When we lose our awe of God, then life becomes unbearable. As David wrote:

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. (Ps. 27:13)

Lord, I will patiently wait with the strength You give me, and I will encourage myself in You.